When I started pharmacy school, I had many assumptions about how it would be. I thought I'd be the class underdog coming into the program as someone without an undergrad degree. I thought it'd be hard, but had no real, solid gauge of how hard. I thought I'd coast through without many friends, probably without joining any organizations. I thought I would just totally and completely immerse myself in my work. I've learned so much since starting about myself, pharmacy, medicine, and people as a whole. Recently, residency interviews brought up a lot of feelings and reflections about some of the more introspective thoughts I've had about pharmacy school. So here they are.


Yeah its going to be hard, but it is all about how you adapt
I've said this time and time again to P1s. Of course pharmacy school is hard, but if you made it into pharmacy school you most certainly have the ability to learn the information presented to you. What is difficult is adapting to the amount of information you have to learn and doing it fast. In relation to studying/doing work in pharmacy school, you need to be able to try out a method, analyze the result and make the changes you need to, seamlessly. Your old methods of studying may work, they may not, either way each first exam in a class is going to tell you what did and did not work and you have to be able to look to what you could change, and implement it as soon as possible! The easier this is for you to do, the better.


Organizational involvement can be so much more than just another addition to your CV
 In my P2 year, a classmate of mine made an announcement that our APhA-ASP chapter was looking for a communications vice president, and after hearing the position details I thought "I can do that". I also had nervous thoughts of "what if it consumes too much time?", and "is an e-board position something I'm ready for?". If it hadn't been for my classmate's prodding and encouragement I probably would have never jumped into the role, and it certainly changed my life. It forced me to not only be involved but to take a relatively undeveloped position and make something of it. More importantly, in the two years I have been an active member of APhA-ASP I have been nothing short of impressed with the impact my fellow student pharmacists have made in the Philadelphia community. And that impact isn't exclusive to just APhA-ASP. Our student body org, ASHP, IPhO and many others have made enormous impacts in our small community at Jeff and also in Philadelphia. My time in pharmacy school was made so much more whole by being an active member in an organization. It gave me something to look forward to, something to keep busy with (that wasn't studying), a place to grow, and the opportunity to lead. I thoroughly encourage each and every P1 and P2 to pursue leadership positions in these organizations despite the fact that studying/exams/projects loom overhead. I promise you, you have the time and the ability, and it is more than worth it.


Your classmates are your support system not your competition
Simply put: I cannot imagine navigating the crazy journey that is pharmacy school without the friends I met in class. No one is going to understand what exactly it is you are going through during school, except for them. I have amazing friends outside pharmacy school who are wonderful and try their best to understand what it is I'm talking about, but lets be real they don't really care if I have all the major drug interactions associated with Warfarin memorized. Pharmacy school is too turbulent and exciting of a time to be making enemies, or labeling folks as competition. You all have the same end goal in mind: PharmD. Work toward that goal together and lean on one another. After all, you'll be spending a lot of late nights in the library together.


Know that your preceptors did not become incredible over night
When I was a P1 thinking about my life 4 years down the road, I pictured that I'd transition into APPEs just as confident and capable as the preceptors and professors I interacted with every day. I thought "of course I'll be ready! I'll be armed with three years of pharmacotherapy knowledge!". I wish that were enough. The transition from IPPE to APPE student was a big challenge for me because of this expectation. As an APPE student, you have a lot more autonomy and a lot more is expected of you, but you still have SO much more to learn. I spent so many of my rotations in awe of my preceptors, wondering how it was that they could cite every detail of clinical trials and if I would ever get there myself. I could never picture myself on their level, and it became a source of stress for me. I felt as though I was behind. However, I began to open up to these preceptors and asked them how exactly they got from APPE student to being an amazing clinical pharmacist. The response I got 90% of the time was: it takes A LOT of time, a lot of practice, a lot of patience and a lot of failure. This was probably the biggest takeaway from P4 year for me. Your preceptors were once in your exact same position, and you should take solace in the fact that you will get to their place one day too.

When you feel lost: remember why you started
I repeated this to myself religiously with every difficult exam, every impossible situation and every stressor I experienced during pharmacy school. Remember why you started this journey. Remember it to bring things into perspective. Remember it to get you back on track or keep you on track. Remember it when you feel like giving up and use it to inspire you to keep moving forward. The you who started pharmacy school is going to be a whole different you at the end, but hopefully your purpose remains the same. I found that reflecting back on my why was vital in keeping myself grounded.


So these are the points that have resonated the most with me as I look back on the last 4 years. I've learned so much about what I love, but also about myself. The photo below is me on the day of my white coat ceremony, about two months into my P1 year. I've changed so so much since then (including about 6 inches of hair), but I'm so incredibly happy with how it has all turned out.